Sexy Time Steak via Tim Ferriss and the 4 Hour Chef

August 23rd, 2013

Sexy Time Steak via Tim Ferriss and the 4 Hour Chef

For many years I’ve been in search of the perfect steak recipe that can be made at home, and I thought I was pretty close to nailing it… That is until I read this recipe from Tim Ferriss in his latest book, The 4 Hour Chef.

You don’t need a grill, the prep and cooking process are easy, and when done right this is likely to turn out the best steak you’ve ever eaten.

Crust one half of your steak with sea salt, and place it on a plate salted side up and uncovered in the refrigerator.

We’ll rinse the steak later, but in the mean time the salt will pull the moisture to the surface of the steak for about 30-45 minutes, before it is reabsorbed into the meat, flavoring and tenderizing the steak.

Make sure to really coat it well!

A note – You do not want to “wet brine” your steak, as you could run the risk of water logging the meat, which is not good. For some science on how dry brining works, check this link out.

Pickup:Step 1. Roughly 90 minutes before you want to eat, rinse off your steak(s) and get them completely dry, patting down with paper towels. This is important, get the steak as dry as humanly possible! Once dry rub the steak down with a clove of garlic, sliced in half, and season with salt & pepper to taste.

Step 2. Put the steak in the freezer, unwrapped for 30-45 minutes. Ideally you want to have it elevated on something to allow all surfaces to be exposed, Tim recommends a cake rake, or just putting it on top of a couple of pencils over a paper plate. In my pictures you can see I’ve used a steaming rack, which works perfectly. Your freezer is an incredibly dry environment, and this process removes any residual moisture on the outside of the steak, allowing us to get the perfect sear. Make sure you do not exceed 45 minutes! We don’t want to freeze the steak, just get it dry.

Step 3. After putting the meat in your freezer, preheat your oven to 200 degrees F(90 C). This low temperature allows a large margin of error, and will cook the steak very evenly. Make sure that your rack is placed in the middle to lower third of the oven.

Step 4. If you have a probe thermometer with an alarm on it, get it ready and set it to 135 F(57 C). Mine doesn’t have an alarm, so it’s a little more manual process but no big deal.

Step 5. When nearing the end of your freezer time(30-45 minutes), get your cast iron skillet(oven safe stainless steel also can work) on the stove top over high heat. You’re going to want to let it sit for at least 5 minutes or so, to REALLY get hot, this is important for the sear. Turn on your exhaust fan or open some windows, as the skillet will be smoking hot.

Step 6. Chop off a knob of grass fed butter, and completely coat your skillet, preparing to sear the steak. The purpose of the sear is not to “lock in the flavor” but to add flavor by browning the surface of the steak via the Maillard reaction.

Step 7. Using tongs, carefully place your steak in the skillet.

Step 8. After roughly 1 minute, or long enough to brown the meat, flip the steak and sear the other side for another minute or so.

Step 9. Once done searing, pick up the steak and place several(5-6) sprigs of rosemary in the pan. Lay the steak back down on the bed of rosemary. This will flavor the steak, and keep it from over cooking on this side.

Step 10. Optional – This is where I drop another knob of grass fed butter on top of the steak. You could also use Ghee, if butter is not part of your paleo template.

Step 11. Turn off the burner, and insert the probe thermometer (if you have one) into the center of the steak. Make sure it’s not touching the rim of the skillet.

Step 12. Place the pan in the oven, uncovered. If your thermometer has an alarm, you’ll know when it hits 135 F, otherwise I recommend checking back in 25 – 30 minutes, as it shouldn’t take much longer.

Step 13. Place your cooked steak on a cutting board or platter. Grab a sprig of rosemary, either from the pan or fresh, and use it to wipe up the juices from the pan and “paint” the steak with all the fatty deliciousness left over. Flip the steak and repeat. This imparts the flavor of the rosemary and all of the awesome butter & pan juices into the steak.

Step 14. Eat it! Typically we get 1 steak for two people, so we simply cut it in half and go to town. Pair with a green salad, or maybe cauliflower mash for a delicious combination.

Let us know how this turns out for you! Being a life long steak lover, I can tell you this recipe has pretty much put every $60 steak house rib eye I’ve ever had to shame.

As a side note, The Four Hour Chef has a ton of other good recipes and is generally a great book for everyone from a newbie in the kitchen to a seasoned pro, you can grab a copy on Amazon by clicking here. Also, I recommend you get a hard copy rather than a kindle version, as it is full of incredible photos that just wouldn’t be as good in an electronic version.

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3 Responses

I am dabbling in the paleo area. I made this steak last night for my wife and me. By far the best steak I have ever eaten. The process is solid. I followed it to the tee and it was great. I used a 1″ Ribeye. next time I am going to get a 2″, but use the same process. Thanks

I did this in a nonstick-pan, didn’t put butter in the pan (it kept burning when I did) and used sliced onion instead of rosemary and upped the oven temperature to 140 celsius. TASTED AWESOME! Best steak ever.

I also topped it with a mash of roquefort blue cheese and butter: mind-blowing.

This looks great. Why don’t you use ziplist? Also, the 4 Hour Chef book I found has low quality photos and text. It’s hard to read and the pictures are not sharp. For a ‘tactile experience’ Ferris should have used higher quality paper.